Just received a knife my Grandpa made - Thoughts?

L4NE4

L4NE4

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Aug 24, 2011
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My dad came up for a visit and a little fishing, while he was here he passed down a knife that his dad made for him. It is a 4" blade made out of 440c and the handle is phenolic with brass finger guards. What are your opinions on this old mans knife? I would really like to know more about phenolic, I dont hear it mentioned on here. I am going to sharpen it and use it most likely, it will be fun using something he made. It is very old, at least 30 to 40 years old.

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L4NE4 said:
My dad came up for a visit and a little fishing, while he was here he passed down a knife that his dad made for him. It is a 4" blade made out of 440c and the handle is phenolic with brass finger guards. What are your opinions on this old mans knife? I would really like to know more about phenolic, I dont hear it mentioned on here. I am going to sharpen it and use it most likely, it will be fun using something he made. It is very old, at least 30 to 40 years old.
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Google "micarta" and you'll get a ton of info about the handle material used on that knife.
 
Great knife.Jason is right on though.Its a micarta handle.Phenolic doesnt show any grain like that.Phenolic is like the slick shiny black handles on the Buck 100 series.Keep it clean and sharp,use it,and pass it on to your son or daughter.
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That is an awesome knife, the more so for having been made by your grandfather. I recently gave the boy my oldest knife, which was also my oldest possession. He treats it reverently, and I can see he is going to treasure it for years and hopefully one day pass it down to his son. Family heirlooms are priceless things, not for their monetary worth, but the stories that they have been a part of. Take good care of that thing. And post up some more pics once you get it sharpened and it sees some use!
 
I have some of my grandfather's knives, but none MADE by them. That's great!
 
Early Micarta definitely used phenolic, but many modern "micartas" particularly home-brews don't, many don't even use thermosetting plastics/resins. Tufnol and Bakelite also use phenolic resins as a binder and differ only in their fabric matrices.

PS. Your grandpa makes a pretty good knife, by the looks of it. A great heirloom. We had one in our family it was one of the 1862 austro-hungarian naval swords that was originally my great-great grandfathers and was passed down the family for graduation from the naval academy. It was stolen when we lived in New Zealand. Absolutely gutted! I keep my eye out at auctions to look for a replacement or recover the original, but the last one that was at auction on the internet was about 5 years ago now.
 
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Very interesting. I am glad I asked about the handle. I have a Buck 119 and did not know it was phenolic, good info!

Thanks for the compliments. I am going to make a simple sheath for it, sharpen it, and carry it along side a bigger camp knife. I told my dad I was going to get a mora for a smaller camp knife and he gave me this instead. Ill take it!
 
I love that handle shape. The old guy knew what he wanted/was doing it looks. Was he military? Does look like it may have had a dual/backup purpose in mind in case ever needed.
Awesome heirloom!
 
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It doesn't matter what I think about it (I do like it by the way), your grandfather made that with his hands. Truly irreplaceable, a treasure.

I had a box of wooden Bass fishing lures that my grandfather (a fishing guide for many years on Lake Okeechobee), made by hand and used. It was given to me after he died, when I was a teenager. Someone stole that box of lures from me a few years later. I wish I could still use those lures today.

I would definitely use it, but whatever you do don't leave it laying around anywhere sticky fingers could find it.
 
FLymon said:
your grandfather made that with his hands. Truly irreplaceable, a treasure.
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Exactly... that is one speacial knife you have:thumbup:


It looks great, and that handle looks very comfortable.
 
Looks good to me and there's nothing wrong with 440C; that is what my hand made knife has in it!
 
It is very old, at least 30 to 40 years old.
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Geez, Junior, you're making me feel bad.

Nice knife you have there. My dad made several knives just for fun years ago. I need to dig those out of his tool box and clean them up now that he's gone. It's just still kind of difficult to go through his stuff.
 
BeTheToad said:
Geez, Junior, you're making me feel bad.

Nice knife you have there. My dad made several knives just for fun years ago. I need to dig those out of his tool box and clean them up now that he's gone. It's just still kind of difficult to go through his stuff.
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Sorry about that, I am almost thirty. I meant old for a knife :thumbup: at least from my collection.
 
Only thing I got from my grandpa were his guns, and he only used them once or twice :P needless to say I have used them a lot ^.^
 
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